In Loving Memory: Dr. Lawrence Longo

Lawrence D. Longo. MD, founder and chairman emeritus of the NIH Center for Perinatal Biology at Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM), passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, after a brief hospitalization. He was 89. Widely known as one of the most influential figures in the fields of prenatal and perinatal developmental biology, maternal-fetal and neonatal physiology, and basic sciences research, Longo was famous for his extraordinary output as a researcher and author as well as a world-class mentor and educator who trained thousands of leading practitioners and scientists throughout the course of a career that spanned five decades. Born Oct. 11, 1926, in Los Angeles, as the third child of Frank Albert Longo, a Southern Pacific Railroad employee, and Florine Azalea Longo, a nurse, the budding researcher attended Pacific Union College (PUC) in Angwin, California, where he majored in chemistry. While there, he met Betty Jeanne Mundall whom he married on Sept. 9, 1948, in Glendale, Calif. After graduating from PUC in 1949, Longo moved to the Inland Empire where he enrolled in the College of Medical Evangelists, as LLUSM was then known. When he graduated with the doctor of medicine degree in 1954, he took a one-year internship at Los Angeles County Hospital followed by a three-year residency in obstetrics/gynecology at the same institution. In the summer of 1959, he took a two-month fellowship in reproductive physiology at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Longo was internationally recognized in his field as a researcher, mentor, teacher, missionary, innovator, medical historian, and ambassador of academic scholarship, and his research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies for more than four decades. Among his many significant accomplishments he authored more than 350 scientific papers, and edited or authored 20 books. “Loma Linda and the research and scientific community at-large have lost a giant,” said Roger Hadley, MD, dean of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. “More than his long list of impressive credentials, it was unequivocally clear to anyone who knew him that he had a deep passion for integrating scientific knowledge into education, patient care, and research to make this world a better place.” Dr. Longo receiving the Loma Linda University Health Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 LLU School of Medicine graduation ceremony from Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH, president of Loma Linda University Health. To honor Dr. Longo's memory and his contribution to Loma Linda University and the scientific community, flags on the Loma Linda University Health campus were flown at half-staff throughout the week following his passing. A public memorial service for Dr. Longo was held at the Loma Linda University Church on Jan. 23.